Lovely to have the company of Carol today, since I've not ridden with her for months. (Had a coffee a couple of times when it rained, but no cycling). Another bonus of this current 1-1 riding and a chance to spend 3 hours chatting and catching up on "life". Carol had missed a few weeks of cycling recently following a collision with her friend, and suffered from some rather painful ribs affecting her breathing. She did really well today, and will soon be back on top form I have no doubt.
I led on a route I first tried out a few weeks ago, taking us into Windsor Great Park. (I forgot to press start on my Garmin). We met at Frost Folly car park, and set off initially towards Cranbourne, then through Ascot Racecourse.
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| Bishops Lane Maidensgreen |
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| Virginia Water |
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| Virginia Water near the Totem Pole |
We stopped for a cuppa at the takeaway at Saville Gardens, where there are thankfully also some Portaloos set up, since the normal loos are inside the cafe building (not open). It was 11 o'clock, and with rain forecast for around 12, we set off on quieter paths now with a faster pace, into the Great Park, passing the Royal School before aiming for Watersplash Lane exit.
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| Great Park |
Climbing Watersplash Lane, we passed a car which was in the ditch on the right hand side, looking rather odd. We assumed they had tried to park and misjudged the steepness of the ditch.
We retraced our steps through the racecourse (stopping to put our rain jackets on), and then our route took us around the perimeter of North Ascot, and along the track which joins eventually to Long Hill/Locks Ride. I had been a bit concerned about this section after recent rain, but it was perfectly dry, so no problem. Next through Winkfield Row and turning right into Malt Hill, we are almost back. The rain thankfully came to almost nothing.
Thanks for your great company Carol. So nice to catch up.